"A lot of these stem cell tourism companies don't even describe what type of cells they're giving, so first we don't even know if they're human cells... so, of course, it is a very risky procedure.

"There has been a couple of cases internationally of children actually dying from these treatments."

The alliance estimates a child in Australia is born with cerebral palsy every 15 hours, making it the most common disability in childhood.

The condition is caused by damage to the child's brain during pregnancy, birth or soon after.

It often leads to seizures, blindness, hearing loss and slower developmental growth.

Professor Novak says a recent breakthrough in stem cell research in South Korea has opened up the strongest chance yet of a finding a cure for cerebral palsy.

"Why we're so excited about this Korean study is obviously human umbilical cord blood cells are designed and are proven to work for blood indications," she said.

"But we were sure they could work for helping to repair brain, but interestingly we've been able to show at both animal models and now in human studies, that they do give a treatment effect."

Professor Novak and her team already have approval to begin clinical trials using cord blood cells on patients with cerebral palsy but need are several million dollars to get them underway.

"Of course, the big question here is, what if we gave them to infants right at the time of the brain injury? Would it actually be a cure?" she said.

"And we need to strongly work hard to answer both of those questions until we prevent [or] cure cerebral palsy in infants with a very, very recent brain injury and could we offer a new and important treatment option to those already living with the condition."

Families travel abroad for costly treatment

Stephen Archer and his family spent around $40,000 on cord blood treatment for his then five-year-old son, Zac.

In 2010 the family travelled to Duke University in North Carolina the treatment which involved infusing Zac with blood taken from his own umbilical cord.

But Mr Archer says there was no improvement in Zac's condition.

"The theory of the magic bullet in regards to the cord blood was certainly an impetus," he said.

"Walking has improved since the infusion, but it would be difficult to determine whether that was because of the cord blood or whether it was due to other therapies and his own progress."

Despite the family's setbacks, Mr Archer is still hopeful Australian trials will come up with positive results.

"It may not have worked for Zachary on that occasion," he said.

"The future holds so much promise. I don't think it's time at all to give up."

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.